Rupiah boosted by news of IMF loan disbursement<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The rupiah rose again to 8,450 against the U.S.
\ndollar on Friday and local stock prices inched down 0.4 percent
\non profit taking, currency dealers and stockbrokers said.<\/p>\n
They warned, however, that sentiment on the local financial
\nmarket remained bearish in the run up to the Special Session of
\nthe nation's highest legislative body, the People's Consultative
\nAssembly (MPR), on Nov. 10 to 13.<\/p>\n
They said the market would be very quiet next week as
\ninvestors would stay on the sidelines during the MPR Special
\nSession.<\/p>\n
If the session went by peacefully, the rupiah and local stock
\nprices would definitely rise in tandem, they said.<\/p>\n
A dealer with a local private bank said the rupiah was boosted
\nespecially by news that the IMF would soon disburse US$1 billion
\nin funds for Indonesia, possibly next week.<\/p>\n
Such news had driven foreign operators to sell dollars to
\nreduce their long-term dollar position, he said.<\/p>\n
\"This time it was offshore operators selling the dollar. I
\nthink at one point they did this just to take profits. Besides,
\nthey also want to reduce their long dollar position ahead of the
\ndisbursement of IMF money,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The government said on Thursday that the IMF board would
\nconvene on Friday to decide the fate of loans for Indonesia and
\nwould likely disburse them next week.<\/p>\n
However, some analysts did not expect the IMF to disburse
\nfunds when Indonesia had a critical political event like the MPR
\nSpecial Session.<\/p>\n
The MPR will set the date for the general election for the
\nmiddle of next year. A lot of groups are planning to stage
\ndemonstrations in Jakarta during the Special Session, making the
\ncurrency market nervous.<\/p>\n
\"The market is increasingly nervous. Market players chose to
\nstay long on the dollar rather than the rupiah,\" the dealer said.<\/p>\n
The rupiah was fairly stable in moderate dealing on Friday.
\nThe currency closed in Jakarta trading at 8,450 to the dollar,
\nslightly stronger than its Thursday close at Rp 8,600.<\/p>\n
The rupiah, however, ended the week lower than last week when
\nit closed at Rp 7,700.<\/p>\n
As the rupiah strengthened, stock prices on the local market
\nlost 0.4 percent, with the JSX Composite Index falling 1.55
\npoints to 353.978.<\/p>\n
Trading turnover totaled 289.22 million shares changing hands
\nat Rp 412.19 billion.<\/p>\n
Stockbrokers and analysts said a slight decline in share
\nprices was mainly attributable to investors' profit-taking on the
\ngains they made in the previous days.<\/p>\n
Besides that, certain investors had started to unload their
\nstocks on lingering fears of possible violence ahead of the
\nSpecial Session of the MPR.<\/p>\n
Panin Sekuritas' head of research, Anton Karlam, said that
\ninvestors just \"think in simple terms and sell stocks in times of
\nuncertainty.\"<\/p>\n
He said only short-term investors and risk takers would be
\ntrading next week.<\/p>\n
A broker with Trimegah Securindolestari said that some foreign
\nfund managers started to cash in profits on Friday.<\/p>\n
\"After purchasing stocks aggressively during the last few
\ndays, they were net sellers today,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Head of research of Sigma Batara Securities, Fadjar Limin
\nSutandi, said certain foreign investors had actually allocated a
\ncertain portion of their funds to the country's market despite
\nlingering worries in the run-up to the Special Session.<\/p>\n
\"I think some investors are shrugging off the political
\nuncertainties before the Special Session,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But the general tone remain gloomy as most domestic and local
\ninvestors would take a more cautious attitude in the coming days,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Brokers and analysts concurred that massive student rallies in
\nthe city on Friday dampened market sentiment.<\/p>\n
They said such student demonstration discouraged investors
\nfrom the local market. They mostly feared that such
\ndemonstrations would turn violent in a fashion similar to the
\nbloody May riots which toppled former president Soeharto.
\n(aly\/rid)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rupiah-boosted-by-news-of-imf-loan-disbursement-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}